Depression

About 10% of adults develop depression each year. At Dreavita, an adult and adolescent mental health telehealth practice serving patients in Michigan, Massachusetts, California, Alaska, Washington, Colorado, and Florida, Andrea Piazza, MA, and the team diagnose and treat depression to help you rediscover joy, balance, and hope. Schedule a virtual evaluation by calling the office or requesting an appointment online today.

What is depression?

Depression is a mental health condition that affects your mood. It’s characterized by continuous or extreme sad feelings that negatively impact emotions, thoughts, behaviors, lifestyle, and often relationships with other people. Fortunately, depression is highly treatable using personalized plans created by the compassionate Dreavita team. 

Which symptoms can depression cause?

Depression can lead to:

• Social withdrawal
• Loss of interest in once-favorite activities
• Continuous sadness
• Relationship challenges
• Feeling hopeless, helpless, or worthless
• Thoughts of suicide
• Fatigue
• Physical aches and pains
• Sleeping more or less than usual
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Difficulty concentrating 
• Irritability
• Moodiness
• Decreased productivity 

Anxiety and other mental health conditions often accompany depression. While everyone experiences sadness from time to time, depression typically lasts longer and negatively impacts your personal and professional life when left untreated. 

What increases the risk of depression?

While the cause of depression isn’t always known, its risk factors include:

• Family history of depression or anxiety
• Loss of a loved one
• Financial challenges
• Divorce or breakup
• Low self-esteem
• LGBTQIA+ issues
• Job loss
• Brain chemistry changes
• Ongoing or life-threatening medical problems
• Lack of a strong social support network
• Substance misuse

Adopting healthy habits can reduce the risk of depression, but you can’t always avoid it. See the Dreavita team at the first sign of a mental health condition. 

How is depression diagnosed?

Diagnosing depression at Dreavita consists of a virtual psychiatric evaluation. Your mental health specialist asks questions about your lifestyle, thoughts, emotions, behavior patterns, and goals. They create a personalized plan that enhances your mood and helps you achieve joy, peace, balance, and hope.

How is depression treated?

Treating depression at Dreavita may consist of one or more of the following solutions:

• Kintsugi emotional wellness solutions
• Client-centered talk therapy
• Couples or family counseling
• Coaching
• Lifestyle changes
• Medications
• Neurofeedback using Muse™ devices 
• Financial therapy
• Art therapy
• Trauma-informed counseling
• Exposure therapy 
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), including trauma-focused CBT
• Sublingual ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP)

Dreavita partners with Journey Clinical to offer fully remote KAP. The team also provides an advanced therapeutic technology rental program, allowing you to rent neurofeedback devices. Dreavita uses workbooks and worksheets to help you overcome debilitating symptoms of depression. The team takes a holistic, integrative approach to mental health care.

Schedule a depression evaluation at Dreavita by phone or request one online today to experience symptom relief.